Beer O'Clock: More Globetrotting

These days, all of my travels to faraway lands are purely virtual. Whether I'm following the pilgrimage trail of the Camino de Santiago or hiking the entire length of the UK, I'm not really leaving the confines of my home or neighbourhood.

But since last summer, I've also been taking a virtual beer vacation, travelling to the UK, India, Switzerland, and even the North Pole. My latest globetrotting with beer takes me to the far-away reaches of Madagascar. And the brewery that has helped me achieve these destinations has been Kingston's own Spearhead Brewing Company.

The folks at Spearhead have been spoiling me a lot over the years, and I was delighted to find another six pack waiting for me on my doorstep last week. The latest offering from their limited Globetrotter Series is a German bock that is made with Madagascar vanilla beans and lush passionfruit.

I'm used to seeing vanilla in stouts and porters, and I love them. I also love these German dark lagers and was excited to see that the creative heads at one of my favourite Ontario breweries try a new blend. I can't recall any other brew with passionfruit, so I was looking forward to seeing how it worked in this bock.

Let's see how this flavour combination works.

Madagascar Vanilla Bean Bock (5.8% ABV)

Appearance: a murky, muddy brown, like prune juice, with red highlights; the head is a foamy, pale beige that slowly settles to a dense lace.

Nose: a slight, smoky caramel, with mild cocoa.

Palate: rich caramel and a hint of prunes, with an acidic followup, from which I can only assume is the passionfruit. There is no solid fruity flavour but something cuts the cloying, slightly sweet Munich and Caramunich malts, and ends in a light, chocolatey finish. But where is the vanilla? I can't taste the vanilla. I need more vanilla!

Overall impression: in truth, it is a very tasty bock. But I'm a bit bothered that the Madagascar vanilla is so prominent in the name but not as prominent in my mouth. With every sip, I sloshed the beer in my mouth, whistled backwards (inhaling rather than exhaling), and let the liquid rest on my tongue, all to no effect of getting a solid vanilla flavour. I got the caramel that I expect with a bock but, try as I might, I cannot discern much, if any, vanilla. There's a slight fruity flavour that I can only assume is the passionfruit, but it strikes me as a slight acidic balance to the malty caramel. The finish is more chocolate than vanilla.

I love vanilla. Every morning, I make myself a fruit smoothie that I supplement with a vanilla-flavoured protein powder, and it makes the smoothie so rich and delicious. Any vanilla-bean stout or porter that I've had shines a spotlight on this decadent flavour. This bock has a lot of flavour: vanilla just didn't make it to my taste buds.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺 + 1/2  While this is a very good bock, with rich flavours of caramel and an added bonus of ripe passionfruit, I wan't more vanilla. The label promises it but the contents are holding out. If I were to rate this brew based on a blind tasting, having been told to try it simply as a bock, I would have given it an extra mug. There is no doubt that this bock is tasty. The passionfruit helps cut the cloying caramel flavours.

Vanilla in a bock got me excited. The delivery just didn't meet my expectations, though I did enjoy Spearhead's bock and would recommend it for all of those dark German lager lovers. But I'm giving this bock a lower score because it doesn't deliver as advertised.

Now, when I review a beer, I drink it at a very slow pace, often taking more than an hour to empty my glass. The beer starts cold but falls to room temperature, and the fizz settles down such that there is no longer a head and no bubbles cling to the sides of my glass. Doing so brings out the flavours as the air changes the composition, much like it does to a glass of wine.

More than an hour after opening the can, I could start to detect some vanilla but it still wasn't enough to make me feel that the label deserved to place that ingredient in its name. But man, it was still a great bock!

Spearhead has never made a beer that I didn't like, and they continue to impress me with every new creation. I'm looking forward to the next release of their Globetrotter Series and where it will take me in my virtual travels.

Cheers!

Beer for Breakfast

Saturday-morning breakfasts are fairly ritualistic in the Brownfoot household. I get up and make breakfast before our endless running back and forth between dance classes and practices begins. The family breakfast of choice is homemade, whole-wheat pancakes.

The type of pancake varies. Often, I mush up bananas and add them to my mix. Typically, I throw in a few chocolate chips to appeal to the kids (who am I kidding? We all love 'em!). For St. Paddy's Day, I even added a bit of green food colouring and shaped the pancakes to resemble shamrocks. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw a shot of my first attempt. Trust me: the others looked far worse.

This past Saturday was no exception to our pancake tradition, except that this week we woke up late and Lori made the pancakes while I rushed one child to a jazz class, only to learn that because of the Easter weekend, classes were cancelled (but comp practices were not). And so we returned home to a lovely stack of pancakes with maple syrup.

This year's early thaw was hard on the maple industry. While sugar shacks were able to start production sooner than usual, the high temperatures shortened the sap season. I wonder how that's going to affect the cost of maple syrup?

That didn't seem to matter for the folks at Trafalgar Brewing Company—a.k.a Trafalgar Ales & Meads. These Oakville brewers have put together a beer that seems all about the maple syrup.

Maple Bock

Trafalgar Ales & Meads

Oakville, Ontario

LCBO: $4.95, 650 mL; 6.5% alc/vol.

Maple Bock is a traditional bock, with a deep reddish-brown colour, though the head didn't last long at all. It was gone by the time I poured the beer, grabbed my camera, and composed my shot. But I did love the colour of this lager.

The maple in this beer hit me squarely on the nose, mixed with a slight dough, and I immediately thought, "pancakes." This brew smelled like the breakfast I had earlier that morning.

In the mouth, there seemed to be very little fizz, though I'm quick to add that by no means did this bock taste flat. I was reminded of a cask-conditioned ale: there was life in this glass. And, again, the maple syrup dominated. Yet, though the flavour of maple syrup was strong, it was not as sweet as maple syrup; there was no cloying in the mouth.

The finish was quite clean. Though this is a strong beer, the alcohol is nicely balanced. Maple Bock is a clean lager with intense flavours and a nice, light finish.

I enjoyed this bock. I told Lori that I would gladly have it again. I might even put some in our next batch of pancakes.

Not really, but I would consider sipping a glass with my pancake breakfast. A breakfast of champions!